The rapper, who has 18 million followers on the social media site, suggested in one tweet that he and Mr Trump have “dragon energy”.

The president retweeted one of West’s posts, and wrote: “Thank you Kanye, very cool!”

You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.

He claimed that “if one employee or just one patron had a gun, or if one person in this room had been there with a gun” then “the terrorists would have fled or been shot”.

The US president later turned his attention on London and said: “I recently read a story that in London, which has unbelievably tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital right in the middle is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds,” he said.

“Yes that’s right they don’t have guns, they have knives – and instead is blood all over the floors of this hospital.

“They say it’s as bad as a military war zone hospital. Knives, knives, knives. London hasn’t been used to that, they’re getting used to it.”